What looks like nothing more than another weird news story is actually part of a disturbing trend.

Last week a man took a bus from Montreal to Barrie to meet a girl he’d met online. When she didn’t show up he called 911 to demand they track her down and find out what her problem was. When the operator informed the guy of his improper 911 use he became angrier.

But this is just the latest in a series of 911 phone antics.

Perhaps the most well-known is the 2009 story of Latreasa Goodman calling three times to complain that a Fort Pierce, Fla., McDonald’s had run out of chicken nuggets. She’d paid for the nuggets then they realized they were out. Instead of giving her a refund like she requested, they tried to make her go home with something else. Sounds a little silly. And a McDonald’s rep later acknowledged the employee hadn’t handled things right.

But here’s Goodman on the 911 transcript: “This is an emergency. If I would have known they didn’t have McNuggets, I wouldn’t have given my money, and now she wants to give me a McDouble, but I don’t want one. This is an emergency.” Really? A disagreement with a cashier is a 911-level emergency?

Some regions even keep track of ridiculous calls. For four years now, the Chatham-Kent police service in Ontario have released a Top 10 Silly 911 calls. The best of 2012 was a 20-year-old who phoned to complain that his 63-year-old father wanted him to brush his teeth, but the son didn’t want to. Police diffused the situation by showing up and telling the kid it was probably best he just brushed his teeth.

Their 2011 highlight was a woman who called in to complain that her cats ate her Whopper burger and she wanted another one.

So what does all this foreshadow? Another step in the direction of the zombie apocalypse? After all, you could file these alongside that weird stretch of stories involving people trying to gnaw off the limbs of others. Remember those?

No. But I wish it were. At least then we could eliminate the problem with a good ol’ round of lock n’ load zombie hunting.

It’s like 911 has become the instant results phone-in version of human rights commissions. The place you go when you have a petty nuisance complaint and want the state to step in. When someone has done something that isn’t illegal but you still want them to be punished by the government. It’s like the public sphere at large has become one giant kindergarten classroom. Talk about the downfall of Western civilization.

This is deep down a personal responsibility problem. Sure, dealing with these calls is a waste of police resources and tax dollars. But it’s also ­— if not dealt with properly — continuing the infantilization of society. The inability of people to just deal with their own everyday problems. Some days I wonder how we get the trains to run on time and the roads to not crumble (oh, wait, never mind).

So what’s the solution? The Chatham-Kent name and shame approach might make prospective callers think twice. But it’s a bit soft. The Florida police had a firmer response. They told Goodman they’d show up to deal with the situation. When they arrived, they charged her.

The 411 on our increasingly 911-prone world

What looks like nothing more than another weird news story is actually part of a disturbing trend.

Last week a man took a bus from Montreal to Barrie to meet a girl he’d met online. When she didn’t show up he called 911 to demand they track her down and find out what her problem was. When the operator informed the guy of his improper 911 use he became angrier.

But this is just the latest in a series of 911 phone antics.

Perhaps the most well-known is the 2009 story of Latreasa Goodman calling three times to complain that a Fort Pierce, Fla., McDonald’s had run out of chicken nuggets. She’d paid for the nuggets then they realized they were out. Instead of giving her a refund like she requested, they tried to make her go home with something else. Sounds a little silly. And a McDonald’s rep later acknowledged the employee hadn’t handled things right.

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